Williams v. Southern California Gas Co.

Appellants Lee Williams, Sherrie Powdrill and Lee Williams as guardian ad litem for minors Kalonni and Montice Williams filed an action for personal injuries against respondent Southern California Gas Company and other entities who are not parties to this appeal. The action arose from the malfunctioning of a natural gas wall furnace in a home rented by appellants. Respondent’s demurrer to the second amended complaint was sustained without leave to amend because the trial court concluded that discovery responses provided by appellants in a prior action were in conflict with the allegations of the complaint in this case.

We do not agree with the trial court’s ruling. We find, however, that respondent did not owe appellants a duty of due care. We therefore affirm the judgment.

BACKGROUND

In substance, respondent’s demurrer was sustained because in a prior action, which was also predicated on the malfunctioning of the wall furnace, appellants provided discovery responses, which were inconsistent with the claim advanced in this action, that respondent’s negligence was the cause of appellants’ injuries. As an example, an interrogatory in the prior action asked appellants to…